Miami falls 36-9 to Louisville in Russell Athletic Bowl

ORLANDO — They were hoping this night would mark their triumphant return to the postseason.

Instead, for the Miami Hurricanes, this bowl appearance was the stuff of nightmares.

Miami native Teddy Bridgewater, who once committed to play for his hometown school, shredded the Hurricanes’ defense. Offensively, Miami had no answers and ultimately, the Hurricanes first bowl appearance in two years ended the way their last three have — with a loss.

This time it was Louisville that had the honors, embarrassing Miami 36-9 in the Russell Athletic Bowl at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium on Saturday night. An announced crowd of 51,098 — many of whom traveled north from South Florida and sported Miami’s colors — watched as Bridgewater likely put the finishing touches on an impressive college career by dominating Miami’s secondary.

For Miami, which missed the postseason after a two-year self-imposed ban stemming from an NCAA investigation into the actions of a former booster, the loss was especially stinging.

Louisville out-gained Miami in every offensive category, rushing for 107 yards while holding the Hurricanes to just 14 yards. The Cardinals had 447 passing yards to the Hurricanes' 160 and UL totaled 554 yards of offense while holding UM to a season-low 174.

Miami, which was bidding for its first bowl win since 2006 and its first 10-win season in a decade, was also 0-of-11 on third-down conversions.

“We got beat in all three phases. There’s no excuses,” Miami coach Al Golden said. “We didn’t play well enough. Give a lot of credit to Louisville. They played really well. They executed well. It’s my responsibility. I’m disappointed in our execution in all three phases. As I just shared with the team, despite that, I’m proud of Stephen [Morris] and this group of seniors for what they’ve been through and what they’ve endured in moving this program forward.”

It didn’t take long for Bridgewater to ruin Miami’s night, though.

The junior, who completed 35 of 45 passes for a career-high 447 yards against Miami, hasn’t formally declared whether he’ll bypass his senior year and enter the upcoming NFL Draft, but after his performance Saturday, it was clear there’s little, if anything, left for him to prove in college.

For weeks, both Hurricanes coaches and players have praised Bridgewater, who is the lone quarterback to pass for more than 400 yards against the Hurricanes this season, but the signal caller proved better than advertised.

After he was sacked by Deon Bush in the end zone on Louisville’s opening possession, Bridgewater bounced back leading the Cardinals on four straight scoring drives. The first three ended on field goals, helping Louisville build a 9-2 lead that kept Miami and its anemic offense in the game.

But with 7:10 left in the half, Bridgewater got the first of his three passing touchdowns by connecting with DeVante Parker on a 26-yard play that set the tone for how the rest of the night would go.

He both overthrew and underthrew receivers and was nearly picked off multiple times. His offensive line, which allowed just 13 sacks coming into the game, gave up four to Louisville’s second-ranked defense.

“Obviously it wasn’t the performance I wanted to have being my last game, but give credit to Louisville,” said Morris, who was 12 of 27 for 160 yards. “They had a great defensive plan going. They were in the right spots at the right time. They came up with making the plays. It’s definitely something I want to work on, something that’s been an issue for running on third downs, we needed to do a better job on that. Overall, my performance as a quarterback was not one of my greatest performances, but you just learn from it.”

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Miami’s offense finally found any kind of life.

With 10:23 left in the game, Gus Edwards scored on a 2-yard run that gave the Hurricanes their lone touchdown.

That all came after Bridgewater connected with two more of his receivers for scores and after he scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown himself.

“It meant a whole lot, not only some of the guys from the state of Florida going against a home town school, but we were going against a quality opponent,” Bridgewater said. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for all year. We’ve always heard that our schedule wasn’t that tough, but we were able to play a quality opponent. That’s why you play the game, to compete. The guys, they went out there today and they competed in all three phases, offense, defense and kicking game.”